13.
"Upon these pretensions, therefore, and causes, men of Lacedaemon and confederates, we have revolted, the which are both clear enough for the hearers to judge upon, that we had reason for it, and weighty enough to affright, and compel us to take some course for our own safety, which we would have done before, when before the war we sent ambassadors to you about our revolt, but could not because you would not then admit us into your league.
And now when the Boeotians invited us to it, we presently obeyed.
Wherein we thought we made a double revolt, one from the Grecians, in ceasing to do them mischief with the Athenians and helping to set them free, and another from the Athenians, in breaking first and not staying to be destroyed by them hereafter.
[2]
But this revolt of ours hath been sooner than was fit and before we were provided for it.
For which cause also the confederates ought so much the sooner to admit us into the league and send us the speedier aid, thereby the better at once both to defend those you ought to defend and to annoy your enemies.
[3]
Whereof there was never better opportunity than at present.
[4]
For the Athenians being both with the sickness and their great expenses consumed and their navy divided, part upon your own coasts and part upon ours, it is not likely they should have many galleys to spare in case you again this summer invade them both by sea and land, but that they should either be unable to resist the invasion of your fleet or be forced to come off from both our coasts.
[5]
And let not any man conceive that you shall herein at your own danger defend the territory of another.
For though Lesbos seem remote, the profit of it will be near you.
For the war will not be, as a man would think, in Attica but there from whence cometh the profit to Attica.
[6]
This profit is the revenue they have from the confederates, which, if they subdue us, will still be greater.
For neither will any other revolt;
and all that is ours will accrue unto them, and we shall be worse handled besides than those that were under them before.
[7]
But aiding us with diligence, you shall both add to your league a city that hath a great navy, the thing you most stand in need of, and also easily overthrow the Athenians by subduction of their confederates because everyone will then be more confident to come in, and you shall avoid the imputation of not assisting such as revolt unto you.
And if it appear that your endeavour is to make them free, your strength in this war will be much the more confirmed.
The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. Thucydides. Thomas Hobbes. translator. London. Bohn. 1843.
This text was converted to electronic form by optical character recognition and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.